9F Seats 1 Day out - DM doesn't clear upgrade
Jul 9, 2012, 12:59 pm
#46
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Sticky: The Consolidated Medallion Chest-Thumping Thread:Report Your Upgrade Conquests and Defeats Here
Jul 9, 2012, 1:25 pm
#47
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In truth, there is very little difference between what I pay for my M fare and what an I fare would cost me.
The big advantage of the M fare is that changes can be made in both the routing and the dates for free -- whereas on an I fare, that can prove prohibitively expensive.
The big advantage of the M fare is that changes can be made in both the routing and the dates for free -- whereas on an I fare, that can prove prohibitively expensive.
Jul 9, 2012, 1:31 pm
#48
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As a DM I have cleared 100% of my 62 legs thus far this year. Some not until the gate, many at about 24 hours. Most of the ones that I don't clear at the window are coded as Business rather than Domestic First. I prime example of that are 2 flights I frequently take out of DTW to BOS. The first is coded as Business and I have never cleared at the window, the other Domestic First about 2 hours later, I have always cleared at the window. So with those data points I am assuming the criteria of holding back the UG inventory for the Domestic Business Class is greater than holding back for Domestic First flights.
Jul 9, 2012, 1:36 pm
#49
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The timing of upgrades that clear between the window and the gate always surprises me. In March, I got the upgrade e-mail at 1am prior to a 7am-ish departure out of GSO. I wonder why that was the "magic" time at which point RM decided that last-minute F purchases were unlikely??
Glad to hear you aren't going to have to slum it in the back with the FO's and GM's...
Glad to hear you aren't going to have to slum it in the back with the FO's and GM's...
Jul 9, 2012, 1:44 pm
#50
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: UsA
Programs: Starwood
Posts: 658
My first experience like this thus far. I've cleared everything at the window so far this year including many JFK/LAX/SFO/SEA routes and this one has me puzzled. Tomorrow I'm on DL109 from ATL-SAN and there shows to be 9F seats open yet nothing has cleared. The same goes for my outbound flight on the return that shows 21F seats open.
Goodluck!!
Jul 9, 2012, 1:58 pm
#51
Join Date: Aug 2011
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The middle of the night upgrades make me suspect that releasing such upgrade inventory is automatic and triggered by a computer algorithm rather than the result of a human being inspecting sales patterns and other information (local events, holidays, etc.) about the flight. Yet some of it surely is done by human beings; for example, there are the rare stories, perhaps on other airlines, of revenue management opening up seats in response to a special request by an elite phone agent.
For some reason I don't think that RM's manual tweaks (inventory bucket availability, etc) is processed real-time, but rather overnight when the system has more free resources. We have at least one RM employee on FT though, so perhaps he/she would care to weigh in here?
Jul 9, 2012, 1:59 pm
#52
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It may have nothing to do with DL holding back a bigger fraction of upgrade inventory. Any domestic flight that is used as a connection to long haul international by a significant number of passengers will have more people who have paid to sit up front as part of a BE ticket compared to the ordinary FC purchases. In addition, there will be others in the front cabin because they purchased M+ and have used miles or a SWU. So DL is likely to have fewer seats open in the front cabin on such flights long before the upgrade window opens.
Jul 9, 2012, 2:00 pm
#53
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I do know that there are no change fees on M fare itineraries which begin in TLV.
Jul 9, 2012, 2:02 pm
#54
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I'm thinking that RM looks at the flight at some point during the day and determines the optimal amount of upgrade inventory to release. I suspect that these manual upgrades are batch-processed after that day's normal automatic window upgrades are completed (hence the middle of the night).
For some reason I don't think that RM's manual tweaks (inventory bucket availability, etc) is processed real-time, but rather overnight when the system has more free resources. We have at least one RM employee on FT though, so perhaps he/she would care to weigh in here?
For some reason I don't think that RM's manual tweaks (inventory bucket availability, etc) is processed real-time, but rather overnight when the system has more free resources. We have at least one RM employee on FT though, so perhaps he/she would care to weigh in here?
Jul 9, 2012, 2:04 pm
#55
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Jul 9, 2012, 2:21 pm
#57
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